£22bn for 'unproven' green tech could raise bills, MPs warn

The authorities is committing billions of pounds to an "unproven" greenish exertion for reducing planet-warming gases without considering the interaction connected consumers' bills, MPs person warned.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) facilities forestall c dioxide, produced by industry, being released into the ambiance by capturing and storing it underground.

In October, the authorities pledged astir £22bn for CCUS facilities and 3 quarters of the wealth volition beryllium raised from user bills.

But connected Friday, the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee raised superior concerns that the authorities had not decently assessed the fiscal interaction connected households and businesses.

"It is an unproven technology, surely successful this country. And we are acrophobic this argumentation is going to person a precise important effect connected consumers' and industry's energy bills," said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, seat of the Public Accounts Committee, a cross-party radical of MPs which scrutinises nationalist spending.

The authorities said that it would formally respond to the committee, but that CCUS was a "necessity not an option" for reaching its clime goals.

It said successful a connection that this benignant of exertion would marque Britain's vigor strategy secure, thing that would little energy costs and bills.

The UK has a people to scope "net zero" - meaning nary longer adding to the full magnitude of greenhouse gases successful the atmosphere, by 2050. As the state switches to renewable vigor and distant from fossil fuels for heating homes and moving cars, greenhouse state emissions similar c dioxide, besides known arsenic CO2, volition fall.

But a tiny magnitude of state volition inactive request to beryllium utilized to support energy proviso and determination are immoderate industries specified arsenic cement wherever determination are fewer greenish alternatives. Carbon seizure could forestall the CO2 produced by these processes from entering the ambiance - and the authorities has stake achieving its clime goals connected it.

Both the UK's autarkic clime watchdog and the UN's clime subject body, the IPCC, hold that CCUS volition beryllium needed if countries privation to scope nett zero and debar the worst impacts of clime change.

By 2050, the authorities wants c seizure and retention to forestall the emitting of 50 cardinal tonnes of CO2 - much than 10% of what the state presently releases - and has committed £21.7bn to achieving this goal.

The funding, announced successful October, volition spell towards clusters of c seizure projects successful Merseyside and Teesside, which it said would make thousands of jobs and pull backstage investment.

Dr Stuart Jenkins, probe chap astatine the University of Oxford, pushed backmost connected the committee's appraisal of the technology.

"I truly don't similar the operation "unproven" technology, it is not typical of the presumption of the exertion arsenic an engineering problem," helium said.

Although determination are nary commercialized CCUS sites successful the UK, determination are 45 commercialized facilities already operating globally capturing astir 50 cardinal tonnes of CO2, and determination are much than 700 being projected oregon developed, according to the International Energy Agency.

But Dr Jenkins did hold with the Public Accounts Committee that determination were questions astir whether the government's existent backing exemplary was sustainable.

The committee person recommended that the afloat fiscal interaction of the programme connected consumers beryllium decently assessed, taking relationship of cost-of-living pressures.

The committee did recognise the value of aboriginal authorities enactment for caller technologies similar CCUS to springiness assurance to the industry.

But it added it "was surprised" to observe that the authorities had signed 2 contracts with CCUS developers past twelvemonth and not guaranteed that if the projects were palmy that the authorities - and the nationalist - would person profits oregon benefits specified arsenic little vigor bills.

"If you were a task capitalist investing this benignant of sum of money, which is efficaciously what the taxpayers are doing here, you would expect to person a large equity involvement successful this full thing," said Sir Clifton-Brown.

His committee recommended that immoderate aboriginal contracts beryllium changed to see profit-sharing mechanisms.

The authorities said that it expected the £21.7bn backing for CCUS to unlock £8bn successful backstage assemblage concern implicit the adjacent 25 years.

Mirte Boot, co-founder of Carbon Balance Initiative and probe subordinate astatine University of Oxford, said her team's probe suggests a amended semipermanent exemplary for financing could beryllium introducing a c retention mandate - placing a ineligible work connected fossil substance producers to store a stock of the CO2 they produce, oregon look a fiscal penalty.

"We reason that c retention mandates connected fossil substance producers are just whilst besides providing the benignant of concern certainty that companies need," she said.